Tucked away in a bustling street of Mylapore stands an 118-year-old college reflecting its founder’s goal of safeguarding, restoring, and preserving Sanskrit, one of India’s oldest languages. The aim of eminent lawyer and philanthropist V. Krishnaswamy Iyer, who founded the Madras Sanskrit College in 1906, was to protect Indian tradition and culture. With multiple cultures existing in every nook and cranny of India, Krishnaswamy Iyer embarked on the mission in Madras to preserve the gurukul system from the “invasion” of Western education and help the professors retain their jobs.
In 1907, the college was affiliated to the University of Madras, and was recognised by the Department of Collegiate Education under the grant-in-aid. The college has also been partly aided by the Union Ministry of Education under the Adarsha Mahavidyalaya Scheme since 1977.
